Disappearing refuse holder



Nov. 14, 1950 D. MARIN] DISAPPEARING REFUSE HOLDER Filed May 1 INVENTOR.

.isbounded in part by a, door. may be applied in a kitchen cabinet; in' a built .carrier referred to and a standard bage'ca'n mounted thereon;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the lower part 10f a cupboard door with a carrier supporting and" operating partsecured thereto. I

jLike referencecharacters designatethesame parts wherever they occur, in"all the figures.

Patented Nov. 14, 1950 FUN ITED STATES PA'I'E-NT OFFICE 1 2530,3315 I DISAPPEARING RE USE HOLDER Donato Marini, Quincy, Mass. Application May 13, 1947,;seria1No. 747,748

and inexepensive construction for carrying a refuse receiverinto the open and retiring it into a cupboard when the-door'of the" cupboard is opened and closed, to enable the carrying means to be stably and firmly supported by the cup- 5 Claims. (Cl. 312-175) board door when it is drawn out by fopening of the 7 door, to provide means applicable to any conventional garbage receiver which is equipped with a cover and a cover operating treadle device,

so that such a standard receiver can bejmounted on the carrier and its cover will'be automatically opened when the carrier is projected into the open; and to provide other useful features'which appear in the following, specifications andfaccompanying drawingsj j The principles of the invention can be applied ,operatively in connection with any enclosed space in a kitchen or other room, when suchspace For instance, it

in counter having walls enclosing an inner space,

in the space beneath a 'sinkiwhen such space is enclosed by walls, and in other situations.

In the drawings furnished herewith Fig. 1 is a vertical section of the floor and front wall of a cupboard or other enclosed space of the character referred to, and a side elevation of an embodiment of the inventionoperatively combined with such floor and front wall;

; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the structure shown in "Fig. 1 except'that the frontwall is represented in horizontal section; a V v I .Fig. 3 is a vertical cross section taken online Fig. 4 is a perspectivefviewof a portion ofa .j Fig. 5 is aperspective view of the'receptacle kitchengar- The enclosing walls of "a, cupboard or other rearward from the front wall l2.

" the door is closed, the shelf 32 and filler are approximately in abutting relation. a

Theslidefrnember I] of the receptacle carrier is so located that its forward end overlaps shelf enclosed space are indicated fragmentarily in thesedrawings by the section of a floor H and front wall l2 to which a door I3 is represented as connected by hinges I4 so as to swing about a vertical axis. A latch l5 onthe door is adapted to engage a hook l6 on the wall to secure the door in its closed position.

A slide I1 is movable backand forth over the floor ll, being supported on a filler-piece 18 which is secured to the floor and confined between parallel guides!!! and 20 which overlap the filler piece and the slide, extending directly Slide I'I supports a platform2l by means of posts 22 so that an intermediate space is left sufficiently high for a'purposelater described, and so that the lateral margins :cf the platform overlap the guides l9 and 20, preferably-without rubbing contact. The slide 11, platform 2|, and posts 22 together constitute a carrier for the refuse receptacle 23. The receptacle here shown represents a standard commercial garbage can having a hinged-cover ,24 and being provided with a removable inner pail or can whichrests on a supporting structure near the bottom ofthe receptacle 23. Cans of this-type are equipped with a lever pivoted beneath the support for the inner pail and having aprotruding arm at one side which serves .as a treadle operable, when depressed, to raise thecover 2.4. I have here shown such a treadle at, 25 and have illustratively represented means .foifiraisingthe cover as comprising a, lever 26 .pivoted at 2! (the treadle being the extremity of one arm of thelever) and a link 28 rising from ,the opposite arm of the lever connected to a lug 28 on they cover near the hinge 3i) thereof. This I gaugeblock 3| which'is secured to the platform. A sector shaped shelf '32 is secured to the bottom ofthe door'on the inside extending hori- 'zontally in the same plane with the filler piece [8. Its curved edge is concentric with the door hinge axis, and its radius is substantially equal to the width of the. door. The forward end of the filler piece I8 is cut away on an are 33 complemental to the curve of the shelf. Thus, when piece 32, and a transverse slot 34 is provided in the overlapping portion. A stud 35 projects upward from the shelf into slot 34. This stud is adapted to slide in the slot lengthwise thereof as the shelf swings with opening and closing movements of the door and, in swinging around the hinge axis, the stud draws the carrier outward from the mouth of the cupboard when the door is opened wide, and pushes it back when the door is closed. These parts arerespectively located andproportioned so that'the can-is carried out of the cupboard far enough to permit opening of its cover when the door I3 is opened. Broken line constructions in Figs. 1 and 2 show the positions of the carrier and can when the door is opened" to a position at right angles to the front-wall I2;

In this position the can is part way out of the cupboard. Further movement of the door causes the can to emerge fully. The protruding end of slide H is then supported by shelf 32, while its rear end remains in the cupboard.v

Raising of: thecan cover 24 whenthe can emerges from the cupboard-doorway is effected by a spring 35 which is anchored atone to an abutment 31 at the rear of the cupboard, and

the forwardend of which is coupled with the cover actuator or tread'leJ25' by an inextensible cord or chain.38: Thisrspring'andthe contiguous part" of thecord are contained in the spacebetween-the slide l l and platform-1| ;of :the carrier (such spacebeing madedeep enoughfor the'purpose by the provision of posts 2.2 of appropriate length), and the cordpassess upward through a hole in'the platform "to connection withfithe treadle 2'5. Any desired suitable means for reducing friction, such as agu'ide pulley, may ibe mounted at the r-imof the hole where the cord changes direction in rising to the' treadle.

Spring 36 is a so called tension spring in the form of a long'h'elix. "Its length,- and that-of the cord 38, are made such that the spring is 'unstressed and the cord is slack when the carrier is fully withdrawn into the cupboard. Enough slack is provided in the cord-to-permit advance of the can into, or part waythrough, the doorway before the cover is raised far enough to interfere with the lintel of the doorway; but at the same time the length of slack is so limited that the spring is stressed before the can is carried all the way out, enough to raise thecovenwidely when the canhas fully emerged. A'spring is selected 1 which has sufficient' strength to operate 'the'cover raisinggm'echanism when stretched to a minor part of its possible elastic" elongation, and'the resilience of the spring causes "the force" which it exerts to be onlymoderately increased as the progress of the can continues'afte'r raising of'the cover has commenced. The combination of the spring and inextensible cord enables the point at which-rise of the cover begins to be accurately 1. establishedand. the further ,riseofthe cover to continue gradually and smoothly..,

' This spring and cord 'combinatiomwith possible modification in lengths'offits constituent parts, is applicable to covered cans of different designs having different types of lid raising means. It does not require the provision of any special mechanism or any modification in existingcommercialcanse The cord can be easily tied or connected by .a simple hook or clip toany downwardly operating part of any such mechanism. 1 Y I 1 An important featuresof the device 'isfthat the ,shelf 32 is not only a connecting meansffor moverably all the way to the front wall 12', while the rearward projection of the carrier is such that its rear end remains within the cupboard at all times.

The filler piece 18, shelf 32, slide H and platform 2| are made, in the present illustration, of pieces of wooden boards, preferably plywood, and the guides l9 and 20 are wooden strips of suitable cross'section. The material, however, is not of the essence of the invention, and these or equivalent parts may be made of. any other suitable materials, including metal, molded plastics, etc, The element 38, previously described. as a' cord or chain, typifiesany flexible or articulated inextensible connecting means that. might be appliedbetween a spring and the lid lifting means ofa receptacle for-the purpose and with effects equivalent to those described;

I;claim:

1. In combination with a floor and front wall ofan enclosed space, and a door hinged to said front wall so as to cover and uncover a doorway in the wall, parallel guides extending rear.- wardly from the front wall adjacent to opposite sides of the doorway, a shelf on the lower portionof the doorway extending. into thespace between said guides when the door is closed and havinga curved edge concentric with the hinge axis: of the door, a filler piece on the floor between the guideways in the same plane with said shelf having a forward edge substantially complementaltothe curved edge of theshelf, a slide lying on said filler piece and shelf with its lateral margins confined'by'said guides, and a-pin on the shelf projecting upwardly. into a transverse slot in the overlapping part of the slide. i

2. Incombination with the floor and swinging doorofan enclosed space, a receptacle carrier including a slide in said space; guides flanking saidslide extending from the interior of the space toward'the-doorway thereof arranged to guide the slide outward and inward, a receptacle :mounted on the carrier and having a hinged lid and means for opening the lid comprising a mounted in fixed position in the .inner' part of said space, an elongated tension spring corn nected .at one end to said abutment and extending thence toward the doorway, a flexiblteinextensible coupling connected to theotherl end of said, spring extending forwardly therefrom beneath .the receptaclesupportingportionof said carrier, and upwardly to connection'with said actuating element, the 'carrienhaving 'fgiiide [.meansaround which the flexible coupling isjfbent,

and coupling means between the dear and carrier constructed and arranged toj projec't the carrier out of the doorway when the door is opened and to project it into the enclosed 'spacewhen the door is closed; said spring and flexible coupling having a, combined length such that theyare slack when the, carrier 'isin thelenclosedfspace and are put under tension when the carrier is projected from the doorway, whereby the lid actuator is then moved downward.

3. In combination with the floor and front wall of an enclosed space and a door hinged to said front wall to cover and uncover a doorway in the wall, a receptacle carrier contained in said space, guides extending rearwardly from the front wall adjacent to opposite sides of the doorway in slidingly confining engagement with said carrier, a receptacle mounted on the carrier having a hinged cover, means interengaged between the door and carrier for effecting outward and inward movement of the carrier and receptacle when the door is opened and closed, respectively, and means for opening the receptacle lid when the carrier is moved outwardly through the doorway, comprising an elongated helical spring, an inextensible flexible connector coupled at one end to one end of the spring, anchoring means holding one end of the combined spring and connector unit in the rear portion of the enclosed space, and motion transmitting means between the other end of said unit and the receptacle lid constructed to cause raising of the lid in consequence of force applied through the spring and connector unit.

4. In combination with space-enclosing means, a slide guided to move into and partly out of the space enclosed by said means and having, a receptacle supporting upper portion, a receptacle mounted on said supporting upper portion and movable with the slide into and out of said space, said receptacle being provided with a hinged lid and a downwardly movable actuating element connected to cause raising of the lid when the element is moved downwardly, a flexible inextensible connector coupled with said element extending downwardly therefrom to a level below the receptacle supporting portion of the slide and thence rearwardly, said receptacle supporting portion having a guiding part around which the flexible connector is bent, and an elongated helical spring anchored in the rear portion of said space and coupled to said inextensible connector arranged to be put under tension by movement of the slide outwardly from the enclosed space; the connector having such length that it is slack when the receptacle is within the enclosed space and is put under tension and exerts stretching force on the spring when the receptacle is partially emergent from the enclosed space.

5. In combination with the floor and swinging door of an enclosed space, a receptacle carrier including a slide in said space, guides flanking said slide extending from the interior of the space toward the doorway thereof arranged to guide the slide outward and inward, a receptacle mounted on the carrier, a sector-shaped shelf projecting from the lower part of the door beneath the forward part of the carrier, said shelf being substantially concentric with the hinge axis of the door and having a radius substantially equal to the width of the doorway, and a pin mounted on the outer part of the shelf projecting upwardly, the carrier having a transverse slot in which the pin is contained with provision for relative sliding movement lengthwise of the slot and for propelling engagement with opposite sides of the slot when the door is opened and closed, respectively, the end of the slide which protrudes from the enclosed space when the door is opened being supported by the shelf.

DONATO MARINI.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the .le of this patent:

UIfTITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,300,287 Huarisa Oct. 27, 1942 2,343,409 Goldberg Mar. 7, 1944 

